Boys Soccer: First Settlers win, then play waiting game

Shayne Johnson (10) and Sean Moran congratulate each other after teaming up for Johnson’s second goal. (Credit: Garret Meade)

FIRST SETTLERS 4, ROYALS 1

The biggest fans of the Smithtown Christian High School boys soccer team on Tuesday very well may have been their counterparts in Southold.

In order to nab a share of the Suffolk County League VIII championship, Southold needed to win its final regular-season game on Tuesday and have first-place Pierson/Bridgehampton lose its game the same day at Smithtown Christian. The First Settlers took care of business on their end. With a first-half hat trick by Shayne Johnson, they downed Port Jefferson, 4-1, at Richard M. Osmer Memorial Fields in Southold. The game was stopped by the officials because of darkness with 7 minutes 15 seconds left.

Following their sixth straight win, the First Settlers (11-5, 10-2) still didn’t know the outcome of the game in Smithtown, but they do know they will play Pierson/Bridgehampton in the Suffolk Class C final on Nov. 1 at Diamond in the Pines in Coram.

Johnson, a senior forward, put five of his seven shots on goal, scoring three of them to give him 16 goals for the season.

Edwin Martinez, assisted by Joseph Worysz, provided the First Settlers with a 1-0 lead, firing in a shot at 21:48.

Johnson’s three goals came within 13 minutes of each other. He collected a loose ball near the top of the Port Jefferson penalty area and drove in a shot to make it 2-0 at 22:34. Then he added goals off assists by Sean Moran and Ryan DiGregorio. Johnson’s third goal was a header.

Port Jefferson (3-12, 3-9) had trimmed Southold’s lead to 3-1 when James Murphy’s through ball sent Giancarlo Cappiello in on goal and he deposited his shot into the net.

The First Settlers held a 27-3 advantage in shots and might have won by an even larger margin if not for some good goalkeeping by Kareem Ghaleb. Ghaleb made 11 saves, including a reflex stop of a diving header by Anderson Garcia in the second half.

Less than four minutes into the match, Worysz ripped a shot that clipped the crossbar.